If you need help bracing your bank account for the slings and arrows of outrageous holiday shopping, there’s some good news: stores are hiring.
ABC10 messaged a number of retailers that’ll be doing some hiring heading into the holidays. Smart & Final, Target, Amazon, and Raley’s confirmed that they’ll be looking for some new employees across California in the coming weeks.
Inquiries on seasonal opportunities were also sent to Safeway, Save Mart, Nugget Markets, and Sprouts, however, ABC10 did not get details about job availability from them by the time of publication.
If you’re looking for some extra holiday cash, here’s where you can land a job.
Raley’s
The magic number for Raley’s this year is 1,500. That’s how many full-time and part-time positions they’ll be looking to hire company-wide.
Applications can be filled out online at Raleys.com/careers. Raley’s will also be holding a companywide hiring event on Nov. 6 and Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. The stores will be taking applications and doing on-site interviews at all Raley’s, Bel Air, and Nob Hill locations.
Raley’s will be looking to hire a variety of positions, but most of the hiring will focus on new team members that can fill online grocery orders.
A spokesperson for Raley’s said the company is paying a competitive wage and offering benefits that include store discounts and flexible scheduling.
Amazon
Amazon will have 19,000 seasonal jobs up for grabs in California.
This will include pay incentives, benefits, and a path to a longer-term career or if you prefer, just some extra money for the holidays.
Amazon is offering a $15 minimum wage, full-time and part-time regular jobs at Amazon with health, dental, vision insurance, and more.
These jobs include a range of roles from stowing, picking, packing, shipping, and delivering customer orders to management, operating robotics, and working in Human Resources.
Interested persons can apply HERE.
Smart & Final
Smart & Final has nearly 400 open positions across California that they'll be looking to fill. The positions include part-time cashiers, Produce, Deli, and Load crews.
For more information or to apply, click HERE.
Target
The massive retail store started its hiring back in September, and a company spokesperson said 10’s of thousands have already been hired. That being said, they’re still expecting to meet a figure close to the 130,000 associates they hired last year.
Jobs include roles in-store positions, distribution centers, and fulfillment facilities. One area in particular that will see double the growth is their “Drive up and Order Pickup” service to accommodate changing shopping patterns.
Other roles will include cleaning carts and baskets, metering store access to ensure social distancing, and providing masks to guests.
Jobs start at $15 for minimum wage. Team members will also have access to health and safety benefits. More information can be found HERE. Also, be aware that virtual and pre-recorded video interviews might be used by the company this year.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment has fallen again slightly.
Last month, 751,000 people applied for unemployment benefits.
The figure means some people are being recalled to their old jobs while others are finding holiday season jobs.
Michelle Castrow, manager of Workforce Solutions, said there may not be as many traditional seasonal jobs this year.
However, the good news is that that some companies are hiring.
Amazon, Walmart, UPS, Home Depot and Lowe’s have all announced plans to hire thousands of seasonal workers.
“If you're looking to get back into the job market, if you’re looking to make that transition or perhaps even just get some extra holiday cash, seasonal positions are a great way to go," Castrow said.
In Houston, she said Workforce Solutions is seeing a number of job postings come available.
“So we still have seasonal retail positions or seasonal jobs related to the holidays,” Castrow said. “They’re just looking a little bit different.”
She said seasonal hiring will reflect how shoppers are preparing for the holidays.
“So if you’re going more online shopping, think about what goes into getting that item from where it starts to its end user,” Castrow said.
The Houston region added 20,000 jobs in September and more are expected heading into the end of 2020.
“Even though the unemployment number is still holding at 9.6 percent for the month of September, there are jobs that are coming back online," Castrow said.
She said it’s hard to track who is not hiring this year because of the pandemic, but the number of seasonal jobs is consistent with other years.